Use of a Rapid Rhino in haemorrhage control for penetrating neck injury presenting in traumatic cardiac arrest

Abstract

Penetrating neck injuries present as serious, life-threatening events which require advanced expeditious management if the patient is to survive without significant morbidity and mortality. In-hospital paradigms for high-volume centres include the use of Foley catheter balloon tamponade to temporarily or definitively control haemorrhage from carotid sheath structures, although these techniques are less commonly deployed in the field. We highlight the case of a 25-year-old male who presented to the ambulance service with three self-inflicted neck wounds – one to each of the zones of the neck. The zone 2 wound had transected the internal jugular vein and also the ipsilateral vertebral artery, causing severe haemorrhage leading to hypovolaemic cardiac arrest in a remote farmhouse location. He was treated with a modified tamponade technique, employing the use of a Rapid Rhino 900™ epistaxis catheter, secured with sutures into the zone 2 wound prior to inflation. This resulted in complete haemostasis, which allowed the patient to be volume resuscitated, anaesthetised and flown by air ambulance to the regional trauma centre. His injuries were treated and his recovery was interrupted only by a transient Horner's syndrome. This report showcases the first time this modification of a well-known in-hospital technique was deployed, which proved life-saving in this case and could be of use to others. We discuss the importance of catheter tamponade techniques as opposed to direct packing, in particular for those who need to be transported either within, between or to the hospital. This is in contradistinction to other authors advocating direct packing as the mainstay of treatment.